Settling in a new city cannot be complete without a new apartment. A lot of us have specific considerations about our ideal places. Yet most of these can be compromised. Perhaps, one non-negotiable is the rent.
As we know, the reason why the cost of living is high in cities is because of the high rents. According to the analysis from the 2019 year-end report of RENTCafé, these US cities have recorded the highest increases in apartment rents:
Highlights
On top of the list is Phoenix in Arizona which recorded an increase of 9.6 percentage points from the previous year, 2018. It is followed by Las Vegas (+6.0 %), Austin (+5.0 %), Washington D.C. (+4.3 %), Tampa (+ 4.1%), Indianapolis (+4.0 %), Charlotte (4.0%), and Dallas (+3.9 %).
In large cities, the city of Manhattan recorded the priciest rent with an average of US$ 4,211. While Manhattan, New York is expensive, neighboring states like New Jersey have more affordable options. You can find Hoboken apartments which offer a good value for your money.
When it comes to mid-sized cities, it is Oakland which has the highest average rent of 2019 at $ 2,908. Along with Oakland, three more cities from California — Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Wichita — occupied four out of the top five spots in this category.
As for the small cities, San Mateo has the highest recorded average rent price at $3, 288.
On the national level, the overall average for 2019 is at $ 1,474. Currently, a renter pays about $43 more than they used to about a year ago.
In spite of this, RENTCafé said that the yearly growth rate in rent for the year 2019 was slower in comparison to the previous years.
“The U.S. economy remains strong while developers continue to deliver apartments in multiple locations. The apartment industry has made great strides since the great recession of 2008 and will remain a strong economic engine as we enter the new decade,” according to Yardi Matrix Manager of Business Intelligence, Doug Ressler.
Insights
According to RENTCafé, the notable spikes in rent among those in the top three — Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Austin — is because they are among the job hubs millennials are going to in order to build their careers. With this increase in demand, there is, of course, an expected increase in rent in these areas as well.
Their findings also revealed that two-bedroom apartments are the most popular for the year 2019, with 44.70% of the people included in the study looking for this particular apartment type. They are followed by one-bedroom apartments (27 %), three-bedroom apartments (16.40%), and studio apartments (11.90%)
Based on Google searches, potential renters were also revealed to prioritize proximity and price in the selection of their new apartment, with these two having the highest search volumes.
Methodology
For the study, RENTCafé collected rent data from the 260 largest cities in the US. The average rents were obtained through telephone surveys, with market-rate, large-scale multi-family property owners as respondents.
If you are interested to know more about the study, you can check their report here. They even have an in-depth report from the cities included in the study which you may want to check out as well.
